Although many market pundits forecast US equity ETFs to plummet and gold ETFs to surge upon the election of Donald Trump, the opposite occurred. Physical gold, seen as a safe haven asset in times of turmoil, has actually fallen by roughly 7% since the election, hindered by rising yields and a stronger dollar. Conversely, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100 have all risen since Trump was elected, buoyed by his promises to spend more on infrastructure; as well as lower taxes and regulations.

UBS has launched the UBS S&P 500 hedged GBP UCITS ETF (LON: USPG), offering exposure to the performance of the bellwether S&P 500 Index, the most widely followed reference for the performance of US large cap stocks, while hedging exposure to fluctuations in the US dollar/British pound exchange rate. Andrew Walsh, Head of UBS ETF Sales UK & Ireland, commented: “The launch of our S&P 500 hedged GBP ETF is particularly timely given recent events in the US and we would expect to see this product gain a fair amount of interest.”

European ETF provider Source believes the US economy still has momentum – and equities may still outperform – despite several economic indicators “flashing red”. While investment and corporate profits have declined recently, the gradual pace of growth during this expansion may indicate the economy still has room to grow. Paul Jackson, Head of Research at Source, commented: “…the fact that wage and price inflation is not excessive, that the Fed is tightening only very slowly and that the yield curve is far from negative gives some hope that this cycle will get a second wind over the coming quarters. If so, stocks will go higher.”

Pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer is due to report its third quarter earnings on 1 November with analysts projecting the company to earn 62 cents a share on $13.05bn in revenue. Over the medium term, investors will also be watching the potential for Pfizer;s new Inflectra drug – set to be launched two years ahead of schedule – and the risk of “major M&A activity over the next 12 months”. Investors looking for tactical exposure to play the possibility the company’s Q3 earnings will beat estimates, may consider several US healthcare sector ETFs from providers such as iShares, SPDR ETFs or Source.

More than 85% of European-domiciled UK-focused actively managed equity funds underperformed their benchmark over the past year, nearly a four-fold increase on calendar year 2015 when 22.2% of funds underperformed, according to latest research from S&P Dow Jones. Furthermore, across UK equity funds, 60.0% underperformed over three years, 63.1% over five years and 77.1% over ten years. The results support the ongoing argument that passive funds, such as ETFs, offer better value and performance than their actively managed counterparts.

Index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices and sustainability investment specialist RobecoSAM have announced the results of the annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) review. The DJSI family consists of indices targeting environmental, social and governance (ESG)-compliant exposures globally and regionally. The indices are designed for use as performance benchmarks for ESG-conscious investors and as underlying references for index-linked investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

Index providers MSCI and S&P Dow Jones Indices have created a new sector for real estate within the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) framework, elevating its position from an Industry Group within the Financials sector. The creation of this new sector will affect investors in Financials sector ETFs linked to MSCI and S&P DJI indices globally, with changes scheduled for 16 September. Different approaches are being taken by ETF issuers in how they deal with the reclassification.

WisdomTree has introduced a yuan share trading class for its recently launched LSE-listed ICBCCS WisdomTree S&P China 500 UCITS ETF. The share class will broaden investors’ options for exposure to the world’s second largest economy, and is reflective of the ongoing internationalisation of the Renminbi. The ETF tracks the performance of the S&P China 500 Index, a float-adjusted market cap-weighted index that measures the performance of the 500 biggest and most liquid Chinese firms across all Chinese share classes, including A-shares and offshore listings such as H-Shares.

Nikko Asset Management has launched two new exchange-traded funds on the Tokyo Stock Exchange providing access to the US Treasury bond market. The Listed Index Fund US Bond ETF (Tokyo: 1486) and the Listed Index Fund US Bond (Currency Hedged) ETF (Tokyo: 1487) both track the S&P US Treasury Bond 7-10 Year Index, with the latter hedged version mitigating the impact of adverse fluctuations between the US dollar and yen through the use of one-month currency forwards.

John Redwood, Charles Stanley’s Chief Global Strategist, looks at the rising popularity of exchange-traded funds.

By the end of June this year, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had swollen to more than $3 trillion worth of investments. In recent years more individuals and institutional investors have built portfolios around ETFs. More institutions have used ETFs to gain exposure rapidly to a given asset class or geographical area. More have introduced some ETFs into portfolios where they lack the expertise on the individual shares or commodities or properties they might otherwise buy.